Red Clouds: The Strangers of Fate

by Akatsuki God

Chapter 11: More Enemies

It was late in the evening in Ponyville, most of its residents were in their homes, save for a few wondering fillies and colts who seeked to go about their time either causing trouble or foleing around with their friends. Just beyond the outskirts of town was a cottage situated on a hill and next to a forest. The resident of the cottage, Fluttershy, was busy tending to a few small woodland cretures such as rabbits, birds, and so on. She knew that an invasion was imminent so she knew that she would be called up soon to go back to the Canterlot castle.

"Hay Fluttershy!" Called out Rainbow as she flew in and landed near Fluttershy.

Fluttershy turned to look at her friend, letting her know that she had her full attention. "What is it Rainbow?" She asked.

"Bad news." She said, further catching her attention. "Remember those guys in the cool black outfits with red clouds that we summoned?" She asked. Fluttershy nodded. "Well it looks like they aren't going to help us out any time soon and also the Crystal Empire was taken by the changelings last night!" She then exclaimed in shock.

Rainbow then stopped as she looked grimmly behind Fluttershy. She saw Itachi and Tobi walking right into the forest but had no idea where he came from or even why he was going into the forest. "That's terrible! What are w-"

Rainbow tackled her and put her hoof over fluttershy's mouth. "Shh, look over there." Fluttershy looked behind her and saw what she was talking about. Rainbow then removed her hoof as she turned. "It's that one Luna was with before he left the castle. And that's another one of them with him." She said to her in a low whisper.

"But what is he doing going into the Everfree Forest? Dont they know that it's dangerous their!?" Fluttershy asked Rainbow in fear for the men walking right into the notorious forest.

Itachi and tobi had nearly entered the forest. Itachi was informed by Luna about an old castle deep within the ominous forest during his time in Canterlot and decided to find it and use it as a personal hideout. It didn't seem to be a bad idea considering it would probably be quiet there, along with the fact that wouldn't be disturbed often by any of the ponies who inhabited this world. Along with that, the ponies seemed to be afraid of the forest itself because of unnatural acurrenses there that happen to be natural in the world they came from such as the clouds moving due to wind rather than pegusi and the animals there were able to take care of themselves. But why would he bring along Tobi? He knew full well his plan to distroy the Akatsuki. Why would Itachi, a member outside of the coup against the Akatsuki, have him tag along? Was he planning to lead him into a trap and take him out without anyone to save him? Or was he somehow in

"Wait!" Upon reaching the edge of the forest, however, a voice had cought his attention causing him to stop and turn.

Three small ponies, one a white unicorn with a pink and purple mane, another yellow with a red bow over her red mane, and a orenge pegasus with a dark pink mane. Unlike almost every other pony he had seen, they didn't have a mark on their flank. " Oh no! What are they doing here!?" Said Rainbow fearfully.

They ran to the two Akatsuki members as fast as they could to catch up with Itachi and as soon as they reached him they came to a stop. As soon as they all caught their breath one spoke "Hay we haven't seen you before." The orange one said.

"What are you ponuhh...guys...doing over here outside of town like this?" Said the white unicorn. She didn't get a reply out of them, however, the two Akatsuki did look at each other for a moment before looking back to the two men infront of them.

Itachi took a few steps in their direction and leaned foreword smiling just enough for him to give off a warm feeling for the three young fillies "Hello there, where are your parents? Surely they must worried about you." he then said in a kind manner.

The three stared at Itachi when the orange pegasus looked at the white unicorn and said, "Ha! I told you they could talk, Sweety Bell! Now you owe me five bits." The outbust was ignored however as then stared at Itachi wide eyed.

Rainbow and Fluttershy watched the five of them as they talked, they wanted to know what was happening. Any information on the Changlings and the Griffins, and even the Akatsuki, would help to calm their friends nerves, however, Rainbow Dash and Flittershy were more interested in the Akatsuki because of Hidan, whom Rainbow was starting to fall for, is a member of the Akatsuki and Fluttershy wanted, more than anything, for her friends to be happy. So seeing those two brought them some relief but they had no idea what they were doing here and they wanted to find out.

"Hay Fluttershy, I can't make out a word they're saying. Have any ideas?" Rainbow asked.

"No, I can't hear them either." Fluttershy replied.

"Then maybe try putting your pet rabbit's ears to work for us." Rainbow then demanded, pointing a hoof at the rabbit next to Fluttershy, who's name was Angel.

The white unicorn, Sweety Bell, shook her head after a few seconds and turned her head to her orange friend. "Okay Scootaloo, but can it wait till tomarow? I don't have any bits on me right now." She then looked back to the pair of humans in front of her. " Anyway, who are you guys?" She then said.

Itachi had opened his mouth to speak again. "Oh exuse me, where are my manners? Hello my pretty friends, I'm Tobi and this is my uhh...partner Itachi. Yes we are members of a super cool organization called the Akatsuki. And Itachi and I and well... Everyone else is very cool if I do say so myself. But right now were going into that scary forest to find this mysterious castle but Tobi isn't scared, nope, not one bit!" But was interrupted by Tobi using a light hearted and seemingly innocent voice, fooling everyone around him except for Itachi, who had been well aware of his true nature for longer than his time as a member of the Akatsuki.

"Don't go in the forest!" Said Sweety Bell followed by the yellow earth pony saying, "yeah, bad stuff happens there! I heard that the animals could take care of themselves!"

"Yeah and the clouds move on their own!" explained Scootaloo fearfully.

Itachi stared at them, he expected this from them but living in a world where that is natural just seemed a little funny to him. "We are well aware of that. But never the less, we must go there. Besides, all of that happens naturally where we came from.

Angela's ears twitched as he turned and looked at Flittershy, making several gestures to her soon after. "Oh my. Umm Angel says that they are going into the forest to find that old castle that we went to during the Nightmare Moon incident." she then explained.

Rainbow looked at Fluttershy. She was unable to think of any reasons why they would go into the forest, much less to find the old castle, in which they visited so long ago. To make the situation even more confusing, she heard a disturbing military report that remnants of Nightmare Moon's energy was found there and still remains there. She had also ease dropped on one of Itachi's talks with Princess Luna a few nights ago and she could have sworn that she heard something about it strate from her that night during her conversation with the Akatsuki member. Rainbow didn't get much out of their conversation however, as she had the feeling that he was already aware of her presence when he looked at her, activating his sharringan as soon as his gaze met hers. That's all she remembered from that night, but that was all she needed to remember to feel a Derain emotion she hadn't had since a couple years back when she entered a competition for talented young flyers.

Rainbow looked at the two Akatsuki members, but hadn't said anything for a few minutes. Fluttershy had taken notice of her behavior. "Rainbow, what are we going to do?" She asked, receiving no response. She then poked her on the shoulder a few times to catch her attention.

At that, Rainbow shook her head. "Huh? What did you say?" She reacted, coming back from her trance. Fluttershy stared at her with a look of worry. Rainbow turned back to the small fillies. "Save it, right now we need to check this out." Fluttershy then nodded and turned back to them.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
{Canterlot Castle}

With the invasion already underway, and the attack on the Crystal Empire's capital supposedly being lead by the Akatsuki, Princesses Celestia, Luna, and Twilight Sparkle didn't know where to turn for help. Metaphorically the griffins and changelings were besieging them from all sides, and with the involvement of the Koyoake, things only got worse. Especially since they had information on a few members who had defected, they thought the Akatsuki was behind it and they had no idea of the Koyoake's existence. Princesses Celestia, Luna, and Twilight along with Captain Crystal Star, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and three guards from Shining Armor's platoon, Shock, Zak, and Smith, had shown up for a meeting. Captain Shining Armor hadn't come because he had taken a small army of Legionaries with him to combat the invaders and perhaps buy some time for the draft to recruit enough ponies into an organized military, which would be known as the Equestrian Legion, for them to have a fighting chance of defending e their home. When he had left, over ten thousand ponies had been drafted into the legion. The princesses, along with Captain Shining Armor, were surprised at the army that was already undergoing basic training, what came as an even bigger surprise to them was the fact that almost every pony that had been drafted went willingly and were even happy to take up arms to defend the very land they called home.

"Princess, if I may ask, what is going on and why summon us to this meeting?" Shock asked.

"You are here because you were part of Shining Armor's investigation of the boarder lands." Celestia explained to them.
"You three are some of the most trusted of his guards and he highly recommended that we allow the three of you into the meeting." She then said, giving of a gentle smile as she did so.

Applejack was the next to speak. "Um princess? What's goin on with the War that we should be hearin about?" She asked. "And who is this Captain Star Crystal pony? I ain't never seen er around these parts bafore." She then continued in her usual country accesnt.

"She is the head of the Crystal Empire's Imperial Guards." Replied Princess Luna.

Twilight gave Luna a look of confusion. "Then what is she doing in way out here?" she asked as she felt uneasy about her presence. It wasn't so much her being here that got her, but the reason as to why she had shown up at Canterlot in times of war, much less, why she did so with a broken foreleg.

"The reason I'm here...eh." She said, cut off from the pain that still run through her leg. "Because the capital of the Crystal Empire, my home, was attacked by the changelings and a few strange creatures that walked on two legs and wore matching black outfits with what appeared to be red clouds on them. The Akatsuki is what they called themselves." She continued, catching Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, and Twilights completely off guard. They thought that the Crystal Empire wasn't going to be targeted by the chanelings, what's more, their facial expressions turned grim at hearing the word, "Akatsuki."

"Now hold on just a pony pickin minute!" Applejack demanded as she slammed a hoof on the table. "You mean to tell us that those tall, two legged ponies went and attacked the Crystal Empire along with those slimy, disgustin, transformin monsters!?" She then questioned.

Star Crystal shot her an annoyed glare. "No, they came and played a friendly game of tag with the ponies and guards there." She then retorted sarcastically.

Applejack glared back at her because of this while Princesses Celestia and Luna just stared at the two, they expected such an outburst from Applejack and couldn't help but understand Star's reaction due to the attack on her home. "Really? You two are going to argue at a time like this!?" Twilight asked. "This isn't the time or place for any of that!" She then demanded.

Applejack and Star both stopped glaring at each other. Applejack then gave Star an awkward smile as Star turned to face Celestia. "When will I be able to go fight those freaks with my fellow Guar....Legionaries your highness?" She asked. She wanted not just to kill the changelings or griffins for invading without a worthy cause, but also to avenge her fallen comrades from the Crystal Empire including Princess Cadence.

Celestia shook her head. "Not until you are fully recovered, be patient. In time, you will get your chance, I promise." She said. Star sighed.

Smith started. "It seems the attack on the Crystal Empire isn't the only thing the enemy plans for us." She suggested. At this, all attention had been focused on him. "Intel from Captain Shining Armor suggests that the Akatsuki are on the move, taking on two man cells, like the ones we saw here a few days ago." He said remembering a giant white bird with Deidara and Sasori standing on it.

Celestia tensed up when he mentioned the Akatsuki. Them being enemies of Equestria had a bitter taste. Almost too bitter for her, especially after witnessing, first hand, their Leander's ability to create a shock wave while only holding out his hand.

"And what's more, the invasion from the griffins and changelings are already well within our borders and and are inching their way to the city of Manehattan with their commanders being Queen Chrysalis of the changelings and Princess Gilda of the griffins." Zak then chimed in. " but unfortunately, that's not all. We have also received word of a vary large white bird that appeared to be following the Captain's platoon toward Manehattan. It may be the blonde Akatsuki member on rout to intercept and eliminate them." He then finished.

"From the looks of things, Captain Shining Armor and his legionaries are surrounded." Star said. Celestia and Twilight didn't know what to do at this point. Star remembered the Akatsuki that had attacked the Crystal Empire at that point. The cloaks they wore became embedded into her memory and just remembering the red cloud on the uniform made her tense up and grit her teeth.

Twilight was starting to feel sick just thinking about the dangers that faced her dear older brother. She had already lost a friend from her folehood and lossing her brother as well would be the end of her.

Star then slammed her good forehoof on the table as she began to tremble. "Why?" She asked vaguely. "Why the buck is it that we have to be undertaken by enemies?" She asked as she stared at the map. "As if those disgusting changeling freaks and the backstabbing griffin traders were bad enough, and now these Akatsuki basterds have to come in and make things even worse!" She then erupted. "Let me go so I can kill them myself!" She then demanded.

"Calm down captain." He said. "We must focus here and think of a statagy that we can all agree on." He then suggested. "However, the last say goes to the princesses."

Princesses Celestia and Luna stared down at the map. They knew something must be done. They had over ten thousand legionaries at their disposal, all of which were untrained and not battle hardened like the royal guards that were currently training them. "Big sister, we must go out and help save Captain Shining Armor." She suggested with Twilight seconding the notion the instant she finished.

Celestia sat in silence, thinking over if this was the best strategy to go with at the moment. Although they had better weponry and equipment, they were still outnumbered and their legions were not used to killing as their enemies were. After several pain staking moments of thought, Celestia looked up and nodded in agreement. "I will go personally to his aid." she then stated as she looked over to Shock, Zak, and Smith. "and if i may ask, will the three of you please come with me? I would like it if you were to stay with me until you get the chance to rush to his side." She then finished.

The three of them saluted in unison. "Yes ma'am!" They said.

Twilight stood. "I'm coming too." She stated followed by Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie standing themselves.

"We can't jus sit here when a friend needs our help so we're goin too." Said Applejack as Rarity and Pinkie both nodded.

"And I shall go as well, thine enemy hast gone too far and we will teach them not to endanger our home!" Luna said as she herself rose.

All of them were eager to save Shining Armor and his platoon from what seemed to be their definite end. At this, Celestia smiled as hope began to come back to her. "Thank you my friends." Celestia said. "But please, be carefully.

Author's Note:

Hey guys I hope you enjoyed this chapter, if you have a question about the story ill b glad to answer it, just leave it in the comments and ill answer from there invade anyone else wants to know the same thing. Also I'm trying to get a rating of 10 likes per dislike so if you like the story so far, you like where its going, or you like the way I use the characters then hit the like button and if you don't like any of it then just don't read it. Thanks guys and ill start working on chapter 12 soon.

Comments

[Ulquiorra2ndS]

New chapter! It's about to happen. I really want to see Itachi and Luna more often. I imagine these awesome discussions between the two under Luna's impressive moon. They just feel similar. I wished Celestia and Pein/Nagato/Yahiko had the same connection...

[VelvetBear008]